ComplaintsforSouthside Tavern Braintree

• Initial Complaint

  03/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Last night on 3/8/2022, I came to South Side around 11pm. I am 23 years old, clearly above the age requirement for alcohol. I presented my state issued horizontal license. I look young for my age due to a medical condition, I expect looks and my ID being viewed for a longer time. This though went too far. The lady accepted my ID and went to grab my drink. When I look over all 3 servers are staring and glaring at me. My waitress comes back and asks for my ID again. She says this looks fake, the photo is so dark. I proceed to take out my student ID, my health insurance card. I go as far as logging into my patient portal. When logging into my patient portal she hovers as all my medical information flashes on the screen. She is staring at my phone and didnt politely wait for me to tell her I found my date of birth listed on the patient portal. She then sees my date of birth and says, you look like a baby. Ive been told I look young for my age, very much a compliment. For a server to say to me that I look like a baby, is an insult and uncalled for. She then checked on us once the whole night. Mind you it is a Tuesday night and not busy. She continued to give me stares and glares the whole time I was there. She then laughed as a guy walked out of the establishment with a beer in his hand, something that is ACTUALLY completely illegal. She got him inside, but the fact that she found that funny and humorous , and treated my REAL ID with attitude is ridiculous. She did not apologize or anything for the hold up. I continued to receive looks and attitude the entire time. The sangria she brought me clearly had no alcohol in it. It tasted like straight juice compared to my partners alcoholic drink that definitely had alcohol in it. Also, illegal to give me either water downed alcohol or not alcohol at all.

  Business response

  03/11/2022

  Our restaurant policy is to card anyone who appears to look under the age of 35 years old.  As noted in the customers statement, she is 23 years old. All of Southside Taverns bartenders and servers are TiPS certified.  The server in question was recently re-certified in October of 2021. The staff is trained to look for alterations on an ** such as numbers changed on the birthdate, holograms, picture of a sibling of the ** user, wrong government email address on the back, and of course, color of the background of the picture that is inconsistent of a standard **.

  
  The customer disclosed she expects looks and her ** to be viewed for a longer time but failed to disclose in her complaint that she currently wears braces while pictured in her 2021 ************* issued **, the customer does not wear braces. 
  The customer came in with one other person and sat at a table in the dining room. The bar side view of the table is blocked by a dry bar that separates the bar side from the dining side. The party of two are the only party sat in the dining room at this time.  She discloses in her complaint it is a Tuesday night and not busy.

  
  The server followed restaurant protocols and **ed both patrons who sat.  The server then asked to look at the ** again and found that the photo looked dark and asked for a backup ** with proof of date of birth.  This is a common method of due diligence of ** checking.  A method that I, as owner, encourage to protect the patrons, innocent bystanders and the integrity of Southside and Southsides liquor license.  Furthermore,the server was only aware of the medical condition after the party left and the server read the note left on the credit card slip:
  First and last time here. Never have been grilled so hard and called a baby! Not the way to go about it ?? have a medical condition that makes me look young.

  The customer voluntarily offered her student ** and made the decision to look for her date of birth in her online patient portal.  In no way did the server hovers over the customers phone to read her medical records. 
  In the customers complaint, she accuses three servers were staring at her.  There were only two bartenders and two servers clocked in at this time. Our cameras prove that the remaining front of house staff were not staring and glaring at her.  They were in their respective sections,either serving patrons on the bar side or behind the bar, or performing their side work, respectively.
  

  The server, feeling satisfied with the back-up **, replied,You look like a baby.  A description the customer openly admits she has been told in the past and viewed as a compliment, with the exception being the night she came into Southside and was **ed.

  The customer mentions she observed the same server laugh and follow another patron outside who brought his beer outside while having a cigarette,citing this as illegal. The customer fails to mention the patron with the beer was stopped on the ramp outside the front door to our front parking lot,apologized for his mistake and placed his beer on the host stand while he smoked his cigarette.  Although separate to and unrelated to the original complaint, this solidifies the servers attentiveness to her surroundings and acted accordingly, following the procedures. 

  The customer accuses the server, and only the server, of two additional times of continued stares and glares the whole time she was there.   Again, the cameras prover differently. She would not have observed the patron bringing out the beer if she had been staring and glaring at the complainant.

  
  Unrelated to ** checking, the customer went on to claim that the sangria she ordered clearly had no alcohol in it.  Our sangria is a pre-made recipe in bulk (5 gallons at a time) including the alcohol. Her partners alcoholic drink, described by her as definitely had alcohol in it, was a Blue Moon draft. 

  
  I reprinted their check to find that the two drinks were the only drinks ordered. The sangria was not sent back and fully consumed by the complainant.   

  The party came in at 10:39 pm and left at 11:33pm. Not only did the party stay and finish their drinks after the ** checking in question, but they also ordered a ************** after the drinks were ordered. The customer was so upset with the service, she left a 20% tip on the credit card slip.  

  
  The complainant ends the statement there. However, she called the restaurant after she left and demanded to talk to the manager.  She refused to leave her name.  The following day, the customer called the restaurant five separate times demanding to talk to the owner.  She again refused to leave her name.

  
  On one of the five calls, a male called on her behalf.  The name left by the male is the same name listed as her boyfriend on ********* Once the manager on duty picked up the phone, the complainant was on the other end of the phone. The manager on duty reiterated the restaurant protocols only for the complainant to accuse the Southside of having lost its liquor license before (we have not), suggested that Southside get a scanner like everywhere else and for some reason, mentioned her family is friends with the ******* group, a local family real estate business that has absolutely no ties to Southside Tavern. 

  
   My rebuttal is backed up with camera footage, note from the complainant, phone records, receipts and back of house audits.

  
  I will continue to enforce the same protocols and defend my staff for upholding the procedures to ensure the safety of our patrons as well as the reputation of my restaurant. 

   

   

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